Ties Of Darkness
by hollietta
Summary: VERY AU! After the Clone War ends, Rex and Cody are hiding in Coruscant's Underworld when the spot a woman behaving suspiciously. Upon investigation, they discover some secrets that no one could ever guess at. The problem with Mandalorian force-sensitive gang leaders, is they don't leave witnesses. Rated T for... well, for Mandalorian gang leaders. Criminals are such charmers.
1. Prologue

**Ties Of Darkness**

**Prologue**

Holly Talon was not a woman you wanted to mess with. Everyone knew that. She was certainly a beautiful woman, something she knew only too well, and played to her advantage at every opportunity. She could be generous. She could be kind, and polite. But she was dangerous. Unpredictable. Wild. She didn't lie, but she wasn't honest. Everything about her was a product of her troubled background. Her parents had been killed by the Death Watch when she only a baby. Her family had lived in poverty until her older sister's marriage to a noble man... and Holly had been forced into a life she hated. She'd started working as a bounty hunter when she was sixteen years old, the fact she was force sensitive a closely guarded secret. Holly Talon was a fearless woman. A criminal mastermind, a gang leader. She had many lovers, and many children. She had many adopted children, her past giving her a strong weakness for abandoned and homeless children. After some years, she turned her back on her criminal empire (to the eyes of the galaxy), and founded The Alliance For Peace. Her calm, confident manner, and charismatic manner of speech drew people to her, and TAFP.

The Alliance itsself was a partcipant in many disputes, none of which bothered Holly, or Lady Talon, as she became known. She always seemed to know everyone's darkest secrets, or if she didn't, a situation involving the non-bribable person dying in an accident would present itsself. The Alliance inched slowly towards power on Mandalore. Holly inched slowly towards the one thing she'd ever wanted: control over something - anything - in her life. She had lost so much before. This time, she would not lose.

Mandalore was unstable, politically. The New Mandalorians and The Alliance For Peace were dominant as far as politics were concerned, and the outcome of the post Clone Wars elections was a coallition government between the two parties. The Alliance had its chance. Holly's time was at hand. And she was ready.

But even as her years of careful planning start to pay off, new circumstances threaten to tear her life from around her. Everyone has secrets, and Holly's are darker than most. She knows how to hide a secret from anyone, and she has done, for longer. She's perfected the 'innocent' mask, but if you're quick, you can catch a flicker in her eyes.

After the war, Rex and Cody are hiding out in the Coruscant Underworld when they notice a woman in Beskar'gam, a woman with a confidence and attitude the two clones recognise from somewhere, and they determine to find out where. The one problem with trying to discover the identity of the mysterious woman? A Mandalorian gang leader has some very trigger-happy friends...


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

At first glance, or to and untrained eye, they were the same. At a second glance, or to anyone with half an ounce of common sense, the differences became obvious. The New Mandalorians and The Alliance For Peace might claim to have similar, and generally matching goals, their policies, methods and leaders were wildly different. The New Mandalorians were pacifists - always had been, always would be. TAFP were more ruthless, rumoured to be violent at times. The leaders - Duchess Satine Kryze and Lady Holly Talon - were much like their organisations, alike until you looked beneath the obvious. The Lady lacked the Duchess's manners, refined ways, calmness and blind faith in idealism. Lady Talon was wild, strong. She'd worked hard for everything she had. She'd been through hell and back. It was hard to believe it, when you heard her speak, that she was the child orphaned at six months old.

One evening, as the year 18BBY drew slowly to a close, Lady Talon and her entourage walked calmly and with no small amount of pride, towards the exit of the Senate Building. Holly herself was no fan of Coruscant, and the lying, backstabbing senators served only to irritate her, but as Prime Minister of Mandalore, her presence had been requested in the first meeting of the new Imperial Senate. Mandalore its self was in the middle of a Senatorial election, and until the result was settled, Holly had agreed to take the job. She and her group were more than easy to pick out amongst the crowd of Senators. Holly, her aides, one a blonde woman several years younger but otherwise very similar looking to Holly, the second a gold coloured Twi'lek woman, two other Mandalorian political figures, plus Holly's six-person strong body guard team, stood out entirely from the other politicians, possibly because of their supreme confidence. Once outside the Senate Building, two of the politicians returned to their apartments, Holly smirked at their departing backs. She turned to her remaining group.

"My dears, you know the plan."

Her 'dears' nodded. The Twi'lek drummed her long, slim fingers on a blaster, which had somehow gone unnoticed, strapped to her hip. Holly's blue eyes glittered.

_The Silver Twi'lek_ was possibly the nicest Cantina is the Coruscant Underworld. Not that any of the Cantina's there were nice. It provided somewhere for the two Clones to hide though. A cackling laugh sounded somewhere off to the right. Rex glanced in the direction of the noise. A rather pretty pink skinned Twi'lek, dressed in battered armour with some kind of symbol he couldn't quite make out from this distance on it, was the source of noise. She seemed to be in charge of the Cantina, and Rex couldn't shake the feeling he'd seen her somewhere before. Cody was talking again, but Rex had long since stopped listening to his brother.

"And the boss said something about turning up later on." The pink Twi'lek woman said to her companions, a rough looking group by anyone's standards.

"The boss? Things are that bad then?" A Zabrak male in a tatty cloak half queried, half snorted.

"She said something about a change of plan. Her exacted words were 'and if they want to play with fire, I'll burn them before the flames can'." The Twi'lek downed its drink, folded its arms and watched to see the effect its words were having on the group around her.

"She's in one of _those_ moods again then." The Zabrak remarked. "Wouldn't want to be someone she's annoyed with this week."

"Would you anyway?"

Whatever the Zabrak was going to say in reply to the half-drunk Twi'lek's obvious taunt was cut off when the Twi'lek leaned back in her seat, reached out a slim, toned arm and caught Rex by the throat. Taken by surprise, the Clone, not wonderfully sober himself, could only fall off his seat. Within a second, most of the Cantina's occupants were on their feet, or holding up some kind of weapon.

"Snooping were you?" The Twi'lek's voice was a low hiss.

Rex made no attempt to reply, and neither did Cody. The Twi'lek narrowed her large green eyes at them.

"And don't think I don't recognise you two. If I decide to hand you ever to the Imps, and collect that large bounty... things would end badly for you both."

Rex gulped. Cody stared nervously at the floor.

"Fortunately for you... one of you" Her stare intensified in Rex's direction "owes my boss a life debt."

Something close to fear unfurled its self in Rex's heart. He had a sudden realisation who her boss might be, and it was someone he'd done a good job of forgetting until now. Until he was forced to remember.


	3. Chapter Two

**Ties Of Darkness**

**Chapter Two - The Hidden Past**

**Italics are memories/flashbacks.**

_He couldn't escape, he realised as the Death Watch mercenaries closed in around him, to seal his doom. He was going to die here, in this dark, desolate wasteland, miles from civilsation. His brothers would never know what had happened. They might think he'd deserted them. _

_An explosion shook the Death Watch base. Another followed it, alarms and shouts filled the air. Then shots. A female voice made its self heard over the chaos._

_"And you can release my daughter right now - and I MEAN right now, you bunch of hut'uunla di'kuts, or you'll find out what I do to people I REALLY don't like!" She sounded livid. Livid Mandalorians were trouble, Rex knew that. A new voice weighed into the noise. Pre Vizla._

_"Ori'buyce, kih'kovid. Ne shab'rud'ni."_

_"Mando'ad draar digu." Her voice was like ice. Rex winced. This woman was clearly not in an agreeable mood._

_Then Rex could see. He could see through the smoke of the explosion. In the doorway, Pre Vizla was slashing at a slender woman in Beskar'gam. Her helmet was off - it had clearly been used as weapon against the sentry - and she had golden blonde hair flowing loose to her shoulders. It was an untimely moment for such a realisation, but Rex realised instantly that she was beautiful. The pistol had falled from the woman's grip, Pre advanced, darksaber raised. She loosed a howl, and a force push. Pre flew backwards, smashing heavily into an unstable roof support. The roof caved in slightly. Her force ability stunned Rex. A force user? A Jedi? A Sith? What WAS this woman? She stepped over to Pre. Kicked him. He was out cold, Rex could see that. As she stood over Pre, the woman spoke again._

_"You, of all people should know. Aliit ori'shya tal'din."_

_Then she stepped into the room. Her eyes, glittering bright saphire in the dark, searched the room. She saw something. Stopped. Her breath hitched, her eyes widened. She let out a single word, so quietly her barely heard it._

_"No."_

_Rex followed her gaze to the mangled body of a small girl, perhaps eight years old. He felt sick. This child, who he'd attempted to stop the guards from beating earlier, was clearly the reason this woman had come here. She spoke again, her voice trembling slightly._

_"Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum."_

_She then looked up, and noticed him there, trapped. She walked quickly over, and used the force to lift the debris from him._

_"Thank you ma'am." He smiled, as he got to his feet._

_"You owe me, Captain." She told him. Her eyes held tears, but she was attempting a smile._

_Weeks passed before they managed to leave Mandalore for Coruscant. Rex knew he would never see her again, and he couldn't figure out why that hurt so much. He pushed to the back of his mind how intimate they'd become since they met. He tried not to think of how beautiful she was. He certainly tried to forget the scars and tattoos on her body, and the way they only enhanced her beauty. _

_He only wished he'd really known her._

He still owed her his life.

**Mando'a translations:**

**Hut'uunla - cowardly**

**Di'kut - idiot**

**Ori'buyce, kih'kovid - All helmet, no head**

**Ne shab'rud'ni - Don't mess with me**

**Mando'ad draar digu - A Mandalorian never forgets**

**Aliit ori'shya tal'din - Family is more than blood**

**Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum - I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.**

**AN: So there you go, chapter two! I think I may end up having to change the rating to m... I think its kind of obvious how Rex and Holly knew each other. **

**~~Hol**


	4. Chapter Three

**Ties Of Darkness**

**Chapter Three**

Time passed. One hour, then two. Rex and Cody were left alone after the encounter with the Twi'lek, but they knew they were being watched, and would be shot if they tried to escape.

"Do you know who her boss is?" Cody asked after a bit.

Rex nodded. "The most dangerous woman I ever met. The most beautiful too."

Cody looked like he was going to smirk, but he thought better of it. "How did you meet her then?"

"I managed to get stuck in some Death Watch trap. She came to rescue her daughter from the same trap... Vizla killed her daughter. She beat him up. Then she rescued me. I was the only prisoner left alive. I guess I still owe her for that."

Cody raised an eyebrow. "So what happened?"

Rex tried to play it cool. He didn't want anyone - not even his brother - to know about his past with the woman who still invaded his dreams. "What do you think happened? We stole a shuttle and escaped from Mandalore before the Death Watch could come after us."

Cody laughed. "You liked her, if I'm not mistaken."

Rex sighed, and decided to tell the truth to his brother. "Yes, I liked her a lot. I'm pretty sure she treats all men the way she treated me though. She's... difficult to understand. She doesn't let anyone hurt her. She's wild, crazy, fun." Rex glanced down at his drink "She's amazing."

Cody grinned at his brother. "If she showed an interest in you before, then maybe she will again."

The door to _The Silver Twi'lek Cantina_ slid open, and the familiar loud music, shrieking, chatter and general chaos greeted the Mandalorian woman and her companions. She scanned the Cantina. This was her territory.

"Boss," The voice of one of her Twi'lek aides, her daughter-in-law, Jasmine Starhunter-Kryze, greeted her. "We've apprehended one or two people you may be interested in."

"Lead the way." Her voice, as ever, edged with a slightly superior note.

Rex felt his heart lurch as he saw _her_ walking towards his table. She was every bit as beautiful - if not more so - than he remembered. Her beskar'gam hugged her body like a second skin, showing off all of her curves, and her small, slim waist. Her golden hair was pinned back from her delicate, pointed face. Her blue eyes glittered in the half light, glittered with the air of a woman who always got what she wanted. Her hips swayed sexily as she walked. Rex barely managed to stop himself from moaning with desire as she neared him. She stopped next to him, leaning delicately on the table with one gloved hand. Her blue eyes focused on his brown ones. Her other hand reached out in a gentle, but deliberate motion, and she stroked her thumb over his cheek.

"Rex." She said, her voice betraying no emotion. "I thought you might turn up here."

"Holly..." He replied, his voice soft. "You know my brother and I are on the run. And with you being here, in that armour, when you have a very high-paid job on another planet, and from the little you told me of your past, I know you can help us. Please Holly."

She looked him directly in the eyes. "I know I can trust you Rex. I'm sure I can trust your brother too. My sister owns this place, and the adjoining motel... we'll find a room spare, I'm sure." She stopped talking directly to him, and turned to a Togruta barmaid "Alyis! Dinner and drinks for gentlemen... on the house."

The Togruta nodded.

Holly stared at Rex for a long minute. "I have business to attend to now. In three hours, come to my room. Alyis will show you the way."

Rex nodded, unable to speak. He was barely able to breathe.

**AN: So... what do you think will happen in the next chapter? Do let me know!**

**Review... you know you want to :)**

**~~Hol**


	5. Chapter Four

**AN: I think I'm going to a bitch with this chapter, in the fact I'm going to introduce at least one new character to the story now, and these characters aren't exactly the type to be hanging out in the Coruscant Underworld... nope, these characters are on Mandalore. They are politicians. One of two of them may be corrupt, but only possibly.**

**I'm sorry if I make any mistakes in this chapter, I'm freezing, I'm half asleep, despite having had four coffees so far this morning and its only 9 in the morning now. I feel like I've been punched in the face (which is possible), and I just generally don't feel very well anyway. Plus I'm trying to watch Top Gear over my brother's shoulder, so I'm not really looking at my screen here... So yeah, not my fault if I mess up on this one!**

**Ties Of Darkness**

**Chapter Four**

Mesh'la closed her eyes for a brief second. She refused to let her nerves show on her face. The result of the Mandalorian Senatorial Election was due that day, and Mesh'la's entire plan rested on her winning it.

"My lady?" A voice inquired. The voice was accompanied by a head, which appeared round the corner into the corridor at the other end of the room. Mesh'la sighed.

"Come in, Sha'ri."

Sha'ri, a pretty young woman with raven black hair and bright green eyes, entered the room. She was smirking, which gave her a look of a villan from a holovid.

"Well? Did we win?" Mesh'la leant forwards, her eyes glittered expectantly. Nerves twisted in her stomach.

"My lady, we always win." Sha'ri grinned.

"I need to know the margins. I need the statistics. I need to know what we still need to do." Mesh'la's voice rose both in volume and pitch.

"The team is currently hacking the system. All I know is that we won."

Mesh'la smiled. It made Sha'ri shiver slightly.

"I need to contact Lady Talon. You may leave." Mesh'la's voice was cold, and edged with annoyance.

"Of course, my lady. We must keep to the plan if we are to bring about change." With that, Sha'ri left.

It took longer than expected to contact Lady Talon. Possibly because Holly delighted in not answering her any of her communication devices until the second before the person contacting her would give up.

"Yes?" Holly's voice at the other end of the comm channel sounded annoyed.

"I just wanted to inform you that we won the vote." Mesh'la kept her voice steady. Lady Talon was possibly the most annoying person in the galaxy... but not for much longer, if Mesh'la had her way. Mesh'la had contacts in Holly's inner circle. That woman was going down, she would make sure of it.

However, Holly didn't seem to be impressed by the news. Did she suspect something? Mesh'la couldn't be sure.

"Well, ain't that wonderful news? Now some of us have important business to attend to, so if you wouldn't mind..." Mesh'la promptly shut off her comm. Holly was evidently in one of her less agreeable moods. And turning the comm off on people, particularly Holly, made Mesh'la feel powerful and in control. It made her even more certain she would win.

She had to win.

**AN: A few things I thought of to say about this chapter are:**

**1. The name 'Sha'ri' is a joke between me and my sister, only she will get that one.**

**2. Now who's the evil person in the equation? (Insert evil laugh here)**

**3. 'Mesh'la' means 'beautiful' in Mando'a, in case anyone was wondering.**

**4. If you noticed that I didn't include Mesh'la's surname in this chapter, its because, so far, her... ahem... family background, makes up a good part of the plot, so I'm not letting you know what that drama is. Yet!**

**~~Hol**


	6. Chapter Five

**Ties Of Darkness**

**Chapter Five**

_The swirling mists of Dathomir made a good place for anyone to disappear, particularly those who didn't want to be found. Perhaps it was a little too much on the theatrics, but it worked well. A shrill call broke the silence. Something moved between the low branches of some kind of tree, but he knew whatever it was, he could dispense of it easily if - IF - it decided he looked like dinner. Suddenly, without warning, an enormous dark something loomed up, out of nowhere. His brisk strides stopped. As the mist shifted slightly, vision was clearer for maybe thirty seconds. It was enough. Enough to see that something wasn't right. Where there should be empty space and bog, a sleek, black warship lay parked, attended by several hissing Night Sisters. _

_"Masssster" One Nightsister hissed a greeting "Your sssship will be ready in three daysss."_

_He did not speak. His right arm snapped out from his side, and before she could react, he gripped the Nightsister by her throat. _

_"Two, or you die." He stated calmly, dropping her to the floor and walking away. Once he'd reached a distance of one hundred and fifty yards, he stopped. He looked up, trying to see the sky through the mist._

_"I'm coming to end you, tyrant." He whispered, his voice menacing._

In her room on Coruscant, Holly shook her head. _It was just a dream, _she told herself, trying to shake away the memories of the dream, but they stayed with her. In her mind, the voice spoke again.

_"Surrender now, you blind hypocrite. There is more at stake here than you realise, you are out of your depth and you have already lost."_

She flinched. How could this... whatever it was know her most hidden secrets, the ones she could barely admit to herself? Was she going mad?

_"The situation is beyond your control, child."_

She growled. No one called her child, for one, she was thirty five, and secondly, if anyone called her 'child', pain was usually the consequence. The one person that had ever been brave enough to call her 'child' or 'kid' without being hurt had met his fate years ago.

_"You have no idea what you're dealing with, and I shall have my revenge."_

Holly picked up a blaster in her left hand, stared at it for a long minute, then raised her eyes to the wall. Her eyes were dark with anger. When she spoke, her voice was like ice.

"Not on your life." She hissed at the voice.

**AN: Sorry I've been dead since early January! I've been really busy with mock exams and other college - related problems, and I'm sure you'll forgive me if I don't upload next week, due to the fact I'm going to Paris. But yeah, I'm back! Please review, telling me what you think, because this is about the fiftieth re-write today of this chapter, and its been quite a tricky one to write, but I hope its beginning to point the story in the direction its supposed to be going! You know, I've been thinking about this story and these characters so much, that not so long ago in my English class, I wrote a short story about Jasmine's reflection on Holly's life... scream at me if you want me to upload it! **

**Review... you know you want to :)**

**~~Hol **


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